“Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. “1Peter 4:19 Concerning the fiery trial which is to try you: But what does the trial accomplish? How is it measured? “Puroō,” the Greek word for “try” gives us the picture of burning as in Revelation 18:9, 18:18 Proverbs 27:21 “(As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise. )” The trial brings heat, which praise reveals Praise reveals the man. “If his own mouth praises him, as in Proverbs 27:1-2, he is known to be what he is, a foolish and vainglorious person.”( Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine…
Healing at the Cross Posts
2Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. We adjust to God’s state of triumphant authority and give thanks. We let go of a grudge by forgiving, and let go of resentments and perhaps hurts which were inflicted. We refrain from yoking up with those who insist on such fallen wisdom, bitter envying or strife. These may be zealous in their retaliatory spirit, separating; faction making. They are failing the grace of God; see Hebrews 12:15. Their wisdom is earthy, sensual, devilish. see James 3:15. But, wisdom from above is spoken of in James chapter 3. Pure, peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy — these qualities characterize wisdom from God. Let’s look at them one by one. The…
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything. 1Corinthians 6:12 ” …but not all things build up.” 1Corinthians 10:23 ESV The King James Bible uses the word “expedient” here instead of helpful. Or in other words, all things do not ease, encourage, urge, stir, or quicken. These synonyms for expedient , are the unspoken realities behind what must comprise our value systems. Otherwise words, quotations, commentaries, concepts or ideas are not to be placed at the ‘highest’ of a man’s soul. Friends, second Corinthians chapter 5, verse 14 uses this word, “constrain.” the word is used in relationship to love, in fact, the love of Christ. Friends, knowledge is said to puff up; however, Love builds up. 1Corinthians 8, verse 1. So, love, the very character and nature of God, is the essential…
Proverbs 29:18 teaches, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. “ The Law” (torah) is not merely the written Mosaic Law, but the announcement of God’s will by the mouth of his representatives. Many times God’s people neglected Him. First, we note the licence of Eli’s time, when there was no open vision. (1Samuel 3:1-21.) “no vision that broke forth” — no publicly recognized prophet whom the people could consult, and from whom they might learn the will of God.” J.F.B. Now, where there is no preaching, men perish in their sins; the word being the ordinary means of grace, ( Acts 20:32) of regeneration (Titus 3:5), conversion (John 3:3), faith (Roman’s 10:17), and salvation (Ephesians 2:8-10); without which, men know nothing of Christ, of peace, pardon, righteousness, and eternal life by Him: and where there is preaching, yet it not being…
Proverbs 10:24 The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted. Job_3:25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. We can surmise , that like faith, fear sets a course. For faith to operate, fear must be dispelled. They cannot co-exist. Job’s fear apparently was hidden, at least to himself. When the answer of fear came, Job knew what happened. Did fear cause his calamity? ” There is a bona fide fear that is not sinful because of our human frailty. Then there is a fear that comes because we do not believe. The fear that comes upon us when we hear something is not a sinful type of fear. It is very normal, and by God’s grace it will not last long if we…
He rests in His love. Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people.” Deuteronomy 7:7 Have you ever wondered about the significance of God’s love? What is it? What does it do? Why? Corinthians teaches that it never fails, it believes all things, it hopes all things. God is said to love with an everlasting love , and draws men with his loving kindness. God’s supreme act of love was seen in his sending his only begotten Son to excruciating suffering and death for the sins of the world. My personal dealings with God’s love have taught me that God’s love is an independent love, a free love, a sovereign love. In other words God is not just doing love, He exhales the very essence of love. And…
Christians must rebound . And likewise must recover. We overcome hindrances, even hindering spirits, through rebound and recovery. We simply get back up. We forget what is past, press on to that which is before. With Paul, we press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah! A major tool for this recovery process is truth, yes truth: the truth that endures to all generations. Another enduring is mercy, another is God’s faithfulness, another is the very name of God, which speaks of his nature, including all of his attributes. Psalm_100:5 proclaims loudly, ” For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” And Psalm_119:90 adds, “Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abides. Then, Psalm_135:13 reminds us, “Thy name, O Lord, endureth for ever; and thy memorial, O…
Grace on every side equals “manifold grace.” God offers the gift and we receive it simply and thankfully. We are to become stewards, yes “house stewards,” monitoring the income and the outgo of this magnificent grace, to and from our soul. We operate in such a manner because grace must be what people learn about God, who’s policy toward mankind is and always has been supreme grace. “Sovereign grace” defines it also, the one and only operation that God performs towards men. See first Peter chapter 4, and verse 10. “Grace is God acting freely, according to his own nature as love, with no promises or obligations to fulfill, and acting righteously, of course , in view of the cross. “God acts toward whom, and how, He pleases. God has no debts to pay to mankind.” “Likewise, man has no conditions to fulfill for God to wait for. Grace is…
“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:1-2 Colossians chapter 3 teaches us where to aim and what spirit to catch. In both cases the goal is “above” and quite frankly, “those things which are above” marks the target. Jesus taught us that as we seek we will find. If we knock on a door, it shall be opened to us. If we ask, it shall be given to us. So with the expectation of a staunch fisherman, we carefully throw our line. But in our case we have the hope born in a promise. We will find , we will receive we will catch. Paul, in a parallel passage, teaches us about understanding a thing, and then placing our confidence in that…
A life makes little sense without hope. The Bible refers to it as the anchor of our soul. Hope that is seen, it’s not really hope. So says Romans 8:24. No, hope that is not seen we must wait for, it requires patience. Patience is a tremendous virtue because it teaches us how to abide underneath the covering of another. In our case that covering is God and his Word. In this abiding, we can even bear fruit. In this abiding , we can have our prayers answered. It is an abiding in love as we are told in John chapter 15. So what does hope do for us believers? Hope tells you , that “you can do it.” You can do it because Christ is in you, the hope of glory. What a miraculous thing. The miracle of the indwelling Christ, united you to all that He is and…